The reason why Barcelona and Arsenal will not be able to play in the FIFA Club World Cup

Football fans may have already started thinking about this. How can the Club World Cup be held without the best European team? It's not that FIFA isn't worried about it.

Let's break it down. This year's European Cup has not been decided yet. The Champions League final will be held on May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich. And the FIFA Club World Cup will start on June 14 and end on July 13 in the United States. Let's assume that Arsenal will face Barcelona in this year's Champions League final. FIFA could be in an embarrassing situation right then. Because neither of these two teams is in the Club World Cup this time. So there is a risk of not seeing the best European team in the Club World Cup. Although the other two semi-final teams, Inter Milan and PSG, have made it to the Club World Cup.

Barca and Arsenal have different paths to reach the Champions League final. Barca will face Inter Milan in the second leg of the semi-final at San Siro today. The two teams drew the first leg 3-3. Arsenal will face PSG in the second leg of the other semi-final at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night. Mikel Arteta's team lost the first leg 1-0 at home. In other words, Arsenal and Barcelona - both teams have a chance to reach the Champions League final.

However, one question may arise - why are Barca and Arsenal not in this year's FIFA Club World Cup?

FIFA has previously decided that the continental club champions in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America who won the competition between 2021 and 2024 will be guaranteed a place in the 2025 Club World Cup. According to this rule, the Champions League winners in the four years from 2021 to 2024 - Chelsea (2021), Manchester City (2023) and Real Madrid (2022 and 2024) - have automatically qualified for the Club World Cup. Since 12 teams from Europe will play in the Club World Cup, after the three champions qualified directly, nine more teams remained. These nine teams were confirmed according to the ranking system of clubs under UEFA, which takes into account the performance of the last four seasons.

It is worth noting that FIFA has also introduced a rule that two teams from each country can participate in the Club World Cup. Since Real Madrid got a direct place from Spain, there was one more team left from this country. Atletico Madrid got the place, leaving Barcelona behind. The question is how?

Answer: Barca have been eliminated from the 2022 and 2023 Champions League group stages. The Catalan club was eliminated from the last sixteen in 2021 and the quarter-finals in 2024. Atletico were eliminated from the last sixteen in 2021. They were eliminated from the quarter-finals in 2022. Despite being eliminated from the group stage in 2023, Diego Simeone's team played in the quarter-finals in 2024. In other words, Atletico have made it to the Club World Cup with a better performance than Barca in the last four years in Europe. According to UEFA rules, the Madrid club has made it to the Club World Cup as the sixth best team in this four-year ranking.

Since two teams from each country have made it to the Club World Cup, from England, Chelsea and Manchester City have got these two tickets. Because Chelsea won the 2021 Champions League and City won the 2023 Champions League. If a team from England has won the Champions League once in the last four years, the other team would be determined according to UEFA's ranking system. Inter Milan have qualified for the Club World Cup as the fourth best team in UEFA's four-year rankings and PSG as the second best team.

Barca's absence from the Club World Cup is a loss for FIFA and the audience. Because Barca winger Lamine Yamal, who is currently recognized as the best in the world, will not be able to play in the Club World Cup. Apart from this, stars like Pedri, Robert Lewandowski, Rafinha will not have the opportunity to play in this tournament. Similarly, Liverpool and Arsenal's star footballers will not be seen in the Club World Cup.